Digital technologies are developing rapidly, and as always, the legal framework cannot keep up with this pace. But when the digital revolution is not just a matter of speed but rather a whole new way of thinking, we probably have to rethink our regulatory approach too.

If we have to adapt to other relationships towards information, meaning and authorship, how do we best organise our (digital) world? Currently many advocates for the digital world veer towards maximising freedom. As the digital possibilities become more and more available and increasingly interwoven with our analogue lives, an idealistic approach to the digital world is no longer enough: a better sort of regulation is necessary. The illegal downloads are probably the most pressing issue.

This discussion steered away from the trenches between media corporations and 'copyleft' hardliners, and focused on new ways of organising ourselves and the flows of knowledge and information in the digital age.

Summary of the discussion

The final debate looked at the regulation and organisation of knowledge exchange. The discussion was strongly rooted in current issues – for instance, the pass and subsequent rejection of the French HADOPI law. This proposed a ‘gradual response’ that would culminate in cutting off Internet access for web users suspected of downloading illegal material.

A good part of the debate was spent discussing the Creative Commons license, both guests agreeing that it was a good start – even though it could not be the one and only solution to reorganising knowledge rights. Heiner Holtappels (Dutch Media Art Institute) believes that the legal framework should be self-regulated by the actors in the sector (creators, producers, users). On the other hand, Harry Verwayen (Knowledgeland) believes that all material will sooner or later be accessible for free. In this sense it is important that producers and distributors deal with that reality instead of fighting against it. The issue of orphan works (works where the copyright holder is difficult or impossible to contact) was raised as well – and was one of the topics where regulation from the government was welcomed.

Verwayen is convinced that giving better and easier access to information and content will organically steer users away from ‘illegal’ methods such as BitTorrent. The success of the iTunes Store, which started with copyrighted music before getting rid of the Digital Rights Management system on their files, is a good proof of that phenomenon.

Cultural producers should embrace Internet as a powerful distribution channel and use it to their advantage. There is no ideal one-fits-all solution regarding regulation: some artists are happy with their work being freely distributed over the Internet, but others want to enforce a stronger regulation system at governmental level… This will make Holtappel’s plea for self-regulation even more difficult.

Outline of the debate

Towards a 'new knowledge' regulation?

• Intellectual property: can ideas really be owned?
• What would be 'fair models' to consider to ensure wide accessibility of the content and compensation for the author at the same time?
• What is the responsibility of public authorities in regulating knowledge?

Internet as a 'copymachine'

• What does that mean for cultural content? Should it be freely available?
• How can national copyright laws be applied to an international medium like Internet?

Invited speakers

Harry Verwayen
Senior Advisor Information Society at Knowledgeland and Senior Advisor content & services for Images for the Future.

Verwayen's work focuses on the optimal disclosure of digital cultural heritage. He is an avid advocate of alternative business models that can make content widely available, while at the same time ensuring revenue streams. An important inspiration to his work is Kevin Kelley’s Better than Free approach to digital information.

Heiner Holtappels
Director of NIMK, the Netherlands Media Art Institute

NIMK holds more than 1400 works of video and media art in its extensive collection. To make a large audience acquainted with media art, NIMK pursues an active distribution policy for these video works and media installations to be presented at national and international festivals and exhibitions.

Transcript of the discussion (click to read)

Background information

Costs and Benefits of Research Communication: The Dutch Situation is a study commandited by SURFfoundation. The report shows that the Dutch society could save 37 to 133 million euro each year if all scientific publications were made publicly available.

UbuWeb is a free online platform based on a gift economy. It offers sound files, books, essays and many more digitalised content. The website states: "UbuWeb posts much of its content without permission; we rip out-of-print LPs into sound files; we scan as many old books as we can get our hands on; we post essays as fast as we can OCR them."

Free - Why $0.00 is the future of business is an article written by Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired magazine. It explores the possibilities of a future 'free' economy, and give 6 alternative models to the current system. Anderson is known for identifying and documenting the phenomenom of the long tail in digital economy. Malcolm Gladwell wrote an extensive review of this publication.

Better than Free is an essay published in 2008 by Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of Wired magazine. Kelly theorizes that as soon as there are infinite or many copies of an object, it will become almost impossible to charge for one copy. He writes: "To put it simply, how does one make money selling free copies?"

Recent activity

• In 2007, Radiohead released their last record In Rainbows only via the band's website. Fans can download the album and are asked to enter the price they want - and they may not pay at all. For more information, see this article.
• In 2008, The French Assembly passed the HADOPI law, allowing media companies to force ISPs to disconnect users suspected of copyright infringement - without having to produce a proof. However the Constitutional Council decided that the presumption of innocence was not respected and therefore decided to reject the bill. More information can be found here.
• In 2009, the swedish Pirate Party won a seat at the European Parliament. The party claims only three issues on its agenda: "to fundamentally reform copyright law, get rid of the patent system, and ensure that citizens' rights to privacy are respected."
• In June 2009, Dutch actors and musicians offered a petition to Dutch officials, asking for a special task on MP3 players and hard disc recorders, so that creators receive money to compensate home copying. See this article (in Dutch). Of course an Internet petition against this idea shortly followed, humourously illustrated in this blog post.
• In late June 2009, the largest BitTorrent tracker ThePirateBay (TPB) was bought by a worldwide gaming company. The tracker, known for indexing lots of illegal material, was famous for its team's response to legal threats. However, after being bought out they issued a press release stating that they "would introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site".